Greg DalyThe family of the late Munster coach Anthony Foley have been “overwhelmed” by the reaction of people to the ‘Eight for Eight’ campaign, Knock’s rector Fr Richard Gibbons has said, after the conclusion of the campaign at Knock shrine.
The campaign had asked people to go to Mass for the last eight Sundays leading up to Christmas to pray for deceased family and friends and in commemoration of the late Munster coach who had been a famous number eight for the Munster and Irish rugby sides.
Described by Limerick’s Bishop Brendan Leahy as “moving and inspirational”, it was the brainchild of Anthony’s 11-year-old son Tony, who began the online appeal just hours after lining out with younger brother Dan and his father’s team-mates at Limerick’s Thomond Park to pay tribute to his father, who died suddenly in Paris on October 16.
Having begun on October 30, which would have been Anthony’s 43rd birthday, the campaign concluded in Sunday’s noon Mass at the basilica in Knock, where, Fr Richard said, over 2,000 people were in attendance, almost double the normal attendance for a Sunday midday Mass at the shrine.
Explaining that the family had asked if the final Mass of the campaign could be held at Knock, Fr Richard said the shrine was “honoured and delighted” to have the eighth Mass there.
“It was a way of reaching out to those who had lost loved ones as well,” he told The Irish Catholic. “That was very important to the campaign. It was a solidarity moment with other people that have lost loved ones and friends. It was a way as well of drawing people back to Mass and to the Eucharist.”
The family had been delighted by the response to the campaign, Fr Gibbons added.
“They had messages from all around the world saying it was a fantastic idea,” he said, adding, “People that hadn’t been to Mass in years or the sacraments in so long felt drawn to come back to the Eucharist. That was the overwhelming thing for them – that people came back to Mass again.”